John Winsor

The Mark Parker Interview, Part #3

This is Part Three of an interview I did with Mark Parker for SPARK.

The Customer is the Boss

You also have to be very careful that you don’t lose sight of who you’re working for. At Nike we all work for one boss – the consumer. Consumers are tough and they’re smart, they have choices, they have power, and they like to throw it around. They understand the world of innovation. They mash together sports and music and film and gaming and art and food and fashion. They ignore the superficial scratch and hiss of brandsters. They are not beyond influence, but they are above manipulation.

Nike succeeds in this world of consumers for some very good reasons. First, we make good stuff. It doesn’t matter how cool you are, you aren’t cool for long if you don’t stand and deliver. Second, we have the strength of our convictions. We love sports and design. We like to have a good time. And we find great joy in getting off the beaten path. Third, we listen to consumers. We talk to consumers. We ask consumers. And we respond to consumers. That’s why they like and trust Nike. As long as we stay connected to them, we’ll be able to keep our products innovative and relevant.

Refuel Yourself

It’s very important for me to keep my own sense of possibility and curiosity cranked up. I travel a lot and have the good fortune to spend time with a wildly eclectic group of people – artists, designers, engineers, musicians, filmmakers and, of course, athletes. We encourage Nike designers and communicators to do the same. This kind of interaction results in some interesting collaborations that pull us out of the comfort zone. The deeper insights you gain from making the right connections are invaluable. Besides, it’s a lot more fun than P&L analysis.

Twenty-five years ago when I first came to Nike, I was lucky enough to work with two people who really defined the creative emphasis at Nike, Bill Bowerman and Jeff Johnson. As is often the case with wizards, they were alternately charming and cantankerous, generous and demanding, but both were equally fixated on innovation, deeply devoted to making sure that what we were creating actually helped the athlete perform better.

My job is to help carry that torch, to make sure our passion for real innovation continues to thrive.

The Mark Parker Interview, Part #2

This is Part Two of an interview I did with Mark Parker for SPARK.

The Right Chemistry

We also promote a less formal SWAT team approach, especially where speed is critical and a specific mix of individuals can really attack an opportunity. Often times it’s about finding the right “chemistry” – not just how good people are as individuals, but how well they work together. You may have someone who doesn’t have the greatest resume or experience, but when put on the right team they create great energy and incredible things because the chemistry is right. This approach is very powerful in designing products, but it also happens in other parts of the company – marketing, communications, operations, supply chain, and retail. Great ideas can come from anywhere. True brilliance is rare, but I think creativity in people is the norm and not the exception. The key is the ability to visualize what an idea can be, to elaborate on it, stretch and poke and play with possibilities that can be brought to life in earnest and not just in theory.

Amplify the Focus

Even with all these efforts, you’re going to face tough times when things don’t work, when the well runs dry. There was a point back in the late ‘80s when Nike’s growth flattened and the company was struggling. So we put together the “Speed Group” to accelerate the design and development of what we thought were the most compelling product concepts of the time, stuff rattling around in our Advanced R&D group. The results included “Visible AIR” technology and “Cross-Training” footwear, two defining moments in our history of innovation. It was a matter of pulling together the best people to work on this particular list of projects, and giving them the support and backing they needed to get it done quickly.

Sometimes you need to work around the larger organization when it starts to sag under its own weight. You look for ways to shake it up, amplify the focus, energize the sense of urgency, get on a mission, get each other excited, and create momentum. Managing this type of “disruption” in the organization can be very delicate. But if you’re open and you communicate, people tend to let their guard down and trust a lot more. I found that to be very helpful. In the end, what really matters are results. When people start to see that, ‘Wow, they’re moving fast and they’re producing some really good work and this is stuff that can really help the company in a big way,’ then people start to rally.

The Mark Parker Interview, Part #1

This is Part One of an interview I did with Mark Parker for SPARK.

Create an Innovative Environment

Nike is a company fixated on innovation. It’s what we look for in every idea, every project, and every relationship. We expect it of ourselves and respect it in others. I don’t consider it to be a fringe benefit or a lucky byproduct of our business. I consider it to be a prime directive, something I take very personally.

Sports is said to be a metaphor for life; we believe that. This is incredibly important to how we do business. On any day, in any event, at any game, anything can happen. World records snap in the blink of an eye. Vegas odds crumble when one athlete digs deeper than the rest. You have to have talent. You have to put in the hours training. And you have to believe. When you do, you unleash the power of possibility. This is the foundation of inspiration and innovation – the sense of possibility.

Creative Structure

Nike is a big company. We have 25,000 employees spread out across the world. In a sense, Nike is a society. It requires structure and guidelines to operate with any degree of efficiency. I don’t consider this a hindrance to innovation but rather a tool to pursue it. Leonardo da Vinci stands alone as a creative thinker, but much of his ability came about through studying the physical aspects of the senses. He was as interested in how the eyes worked as in what they saw. That kind of emphasis on structure can yield incredible gains in the creative process.

We have several organized and established advanced R&D groups. Engineers, developers, researchers and others who aren’t defined as creative in the classic sense of the word are responsible for a lot of divergent thinking. They embrace trial and error – always willing to take risks, to go down different paths and hit some dead ends, back up and re-group. And they learn from it all. That’s just the nature of the beast. Much of the innovation at Nike comes from these formal groups. At Nike, leadership and management understand this and support it.

The SPARK Update

Spark continues to garner lots of nice attention. This month it appears at number 4 on the 800 CEO Read bestseller list. The book also recieved a couple of nice reviews from Fast Company and several blogs, including Chroma.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support!

The SPARK Blog is up!

The Spark: Be More Innovative Through Co-Creation blog is now live! I wanted a place to publish a few tidbits from each chapter and give readers a chance to participate with their own co-created innovation stories. Check it out here. I look forward to your feedback.

Spark is out!

My new book, Spark: Be More Innovative Through Co-Creation, appeared in stores yesterday. It has been a really great project, with the participation of so many wonderful people.

In the next couple of days I will post a link to the Spark blog that will give you the ability to check out some of the content and share your own stories of innovation. So watch for that.

Also, 800CEOread posted an excerpt from chapter 9 entitled, Have Fun, and features an interview with Rob Bon Durant of Patagonia.

Thanks again for everyone's support. I look forward to getting your feedback on the book.

Another Nice Review!

Thanks to the folks at CEO Refresher for a nice review of Spark. Here's what they have to say: "This is a most mindful work and one of the best of the year!"

Spark Reviewed

Thanks to Advertising Age's Point Magazine for a nice review of Spark.

"Consider this book the flint for the chain reaction of ideas waiting to happen in your mind."

Spark, Installment #6

It has been a while since I've added anything here about my new book, Spark. The book is now up on both Amazon and BN.com. I'm also starting to get some nice reviews.

In Chapter 13 of Spark, Build a Community , I interviewed Jake McKee from LEGO. Jake's ideas about building a realtionship are important:

What we really have here – when I talk about the relationship that I have with the fan groups (customers) and they have with me – is a dating relationship. If you show up on a date and you’re absolutely perfect, the person doesn’t think, ‘Wow, this is so great – he’s perfect!’

They think, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’ Their defenses immediately go up and they assume you’re hiding something. When companies do that same thing you immediately think they’re just spinning it, that it’s just marketing crap and you don’t need to pay attention to it. But when you actually start to have an interaction with them, that back and forth, then you have a relationship.

Sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s good, but at the end of the day, as long as it’s more positive than negative, that’s what it’s all about. That’s what people really believe; that you’re not just messing with them, trying to get them to buy something.